The Lure of Modern Machines
Ray Bradbury’s short story, “The Veldt” and Leo Lewis’s article in The Financial Times, “Was Japan’s ‘Lost’ Generation Ahead of The Virtual Curve?,” demonstrates the idea that technology’s seductiveness can lead to society’s downfall.
Today’s cultural norms consist of the reliance of machines, but technology can become a harmful aspect of society. Leo Lewis’s article, “Was Japan’s ‘Lost’ Generation Ahead of The Virtual Curve?,” echoes the dangers of technology when he describes the common factor across countries - and the core point of the present article - is the escape into virtual reality, which is a dangerously seductive activity (Lewis). The short story “The Veldt” can be analyzed as a cautionary tale about the dangers of technology, especially when it threatens the relationship between parents and their children. The parents buy the house to live a “better” and “simpler" life, although the machines of it
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Ultimately leading to the gruesome murder of both parents organized by the children after their parents threatened to shut off the machines in the house. The writings of Lewis and Bradbury demonstrate that the enticement of technology could lead to societal downfall. In addition, Lewis analyzes hikikomori in his article where members of Japanese society fully immerse themselves in technology withdrawing into their bedrooms. He spins this way of life into an ethical lifestyle by asking the profound question, “In some future light, might the hikikomori be deemed less the sad victims of society and technology went awry and more the brave colonists of a prairie in which everyone will soon want their homestead?” suggesting that society will realize that those who suffer from technological side effects could one day